A History of Magic
by UndefinedLines19
Summary: It's a night filled with Gryffindors as Dean and his wife help their daughter with an assignment. The history of their lives unravel, and their memories mix with their present as they deal with their five children who are causing a lot of drama on the first night of the Summer holidays. The Longbottoms, Thomases, Weasleys, and Finnegans are about to collide like never before.
1. Summer Assignment

**Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling. All things recognizable belong to her.**

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**The Daily Prophet...**

**As the 25th Anniversary of The Second War approaches in the upcoming year, the hunt for the memories of the surviving participants and families is going underway. The Ministry of Magic is seeking to obtain the personal accounts, experiences, and life stories of persons and families directly affected by The Second War. **

**These memoirs may be used for History of Magic studies at various magical schools throughout the world and in the public historical archives at the Ministry of Magic itself.**

**Minister Kingsley said a few words on the topic yesterday afternoon, expressing his own concern as he so gracefully ages and approaches the record of the longest standing Minister. "Our mission at the Ministry of Magic is to preserve the memories of those who fought in The Second War - of those who have made the liberties we so enjoy today possible. It is crucial that these recollections are obtained so that Wizarding communities across the globe will be grateful to those who fought and risked their lives, for generations to come."**

**"As the elderly who were affected come to the end of their lives, we've realized the importance of preserving the accounts and look forward to obtaining as many as possible whilst it ****is**** possible," says Magical Historian Terry Boot.****  
**

**Any donations of memories would be greatly appreciated and may be sent in via parchment, vials, flasks, or tape recordings (a type of Muggle tool used to record voices).**

**Thank You.**

**Written by Parvati K. Panth**

**For your daily Horoscope, courtesy of Seer Sybil Trelawney, please turn to page 5.**

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As an aspiring magical historian, the assignment given to my rising Sixth Year History of Magic class not only seemed like it would be easy and fun, but also highly educational and potentially priceless. The task was simple: Interview a family member, friend, or someone else we know about their experience in The Second War.

I was beyond excited about the assignment, and upon returning home from school during the summer holiday, I immediately began searching for a fresh quill and some parchment. I already knew without a doubt whom I would ask to be my interviewee. My mother: Olivia Thomas. She herself was directly involved in the war. Though she would mention her encounters offhandedly at times, I either was too nervous to ask her for further details, or didn't think of the war as a highly important event due to ignorance of the ordeal.

After our brief end of the year lesson in History of Magic, I was thoroughly interested and even a little obsessed with the idea of a live personal account. For me, it wasn't just a bit of history. The war had changed the lives of my family. My mother's parents were assumed to be killed during the war, as their whereabouts were never recovered afterwards, and my father, a Muggleborn, was a target for capture.

This war was a huge deal and though I had only the faintest idea, has had significant impact on my life.

It's been said by my Aunt Angelina that the war was the catalyst for my parents' relationship and so after that last history lesson, in which we learned that many students that fought in the war either intermarried or married _outside_ of the Wizarding World, I also became curious about how exactly my parents got together.

As my closest aunt, she tells me stories about her and my mum; about how she helped her learn to ride a broom and play Quidditch, and of my mum's hopeless crush on my father during their Hogwarts years. I rarely ever heard these stories from my mother, but found it interesting how she married her old school crush. Perhaps her accounts would help me get my best friend, Seth Finnigan, to actually realize I'm a girl.

But, that wasn't something I wanted to argue with myself over at the moment, I had business to attend to...

* * *

I bounded excitedly down the old stone stairs of our house, trying to gain some composure before my mum thought I bought all the sweets from the trolley on the train back home again. My brothers and sister weren't home, which meant that I had my mother to myself. That _rarely_ happened . I took a calming breath before turning the corner into the kitchen.

"Mum?" I asked, shy but determined.

"Hm?" She answered while flicking her wand towards the cabinet, summoning ingredients whilst the dishes washed themselves.

"I was just wondering..." I suddenly got a bit unconfident. My mother was a generally happy, kind person, but if you came at her the wrong way she could become quite frightening.

I realized that the likelihood of my mother being peeved or uncomfortable was slim, so I summoned my courage and went through with my plan.

"I was just wondering if you would be willing to tell me about your experience in the war..." I heard my own voice get smaller as I spoke, something I noticed that happens to my mum's voice sometimes when she and dad had a row.

She beamed at me though, "I thought you were never going to ask and I'd have to beat you into a chair to listen when I'm one hundred and ten. Let me just get dinner started."

Her eyes were wide with excitement, the brown in them shining like she'd won the Wizard lottery. She flicked her wand towards the ingredients -they started to mix together into a large cauldron immediately- then towards the stairs, murmuring "_Accio_ School Stuff!" I heard some vague rummaging somewhere upstairs and a container a little larger than a shoe box came zooming down the stairs and into my mother's outstretched left hand, showing off her recreational Quidditch skills. My mum then flicked her wand again towards the stove and a kettle began to make tea. We sat down at the large wooden table in the dining room; my mum pulled her legs into her chair, crossing them before jumping with a start, almost like a twitch.

"..._Accio_ Muggle Tape Recorder!" With another vague rustle from upstairs, the recorder came zooming around the corner. "This will be much easier to record with, it's a long story, so writing it by hand with a quill will be long and tedious, and you'll be able to use this for extra credit in Muggle studies."

I dropped my quill onto the table immediately.

"Okay, where should I begin?" asked my mum, already clearly excited.

"At the beginning, when the war started. You were just a kid, right? Exactly how old were you? How did you even get involved?"

"Well, I suppose it all began to brew during fifth year, after Harry Potter claimed Voldemort, had returned..."

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**A/N: I've posted this story before, but after receiving an EXCELLENT review from a reader, I've stripped the story down, rewritten parts, and made it better. If you've read it before, I hope you enjoy this more than the last version; and if you haven't, I hope you like it, because I've been working on it for over a year. The other chapters are still being edited, and I will be posting them soon. **

**As you can probably tell, I love this story, which is why I've been working with it for so long, and I hope you will too. Enjoy.**

**Also, reviews are more than appreciated. I will love you forever. To make reviewing even more appealing, I'll read a story of yours that you request. :) Just, please review.**

**~T**


	2. Olivia Johnson, Lover Girl

**Disclaimer: All things recognizable belong to JKR.**

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"Well, I suppose it all began to brew during my fifth year, after Harry Potter claimed Voldemort had returned.

Angelina knew Harry Potter well. As you already know, they both played for the house Quidditch team. Because of the alliance, when Harry said that Voldemort had returned, she didn't doubt his word for a second. But the Dark Lord wasn't her main concern, winning the Quidditch Cup under her reign as captain was her top priority, which is part of the reason _I_ didn't play Quidditch.

She wasn't completely stupid though, she convinced our parents and our family that the awful things written about Potter in the Daily Prophet were lies and that he _was_ telling the truth. As a result, our family was one of the first to ally ourselves with The Order of the Phoenix, a secret society dedicated to fighting the Dark Lord."

She paused, flicking her wand towards the kettle which began pouring and preparing tea.

"My parents decided Hogwarts was the safest place for us and our return to school never hung in the balance. At the time, Harry Potter was not only deemed a liar but a running joke in the Daily Prophet."

She paused again, flicking her wand towards the cups, which began to slowly float towards us, and then settle themselves on the table in front of each of us. She then began rummaging through the clippings from the prophet and handed them to me. I read through them fairly quickly, while she began to explain their general significance.

"Cornelius Fudge was the Minister of Magic at the time and dead set against the idea that the Dark Lord could possibly be back, therefore he tried to discourage the idea from the public,"

The clippings were horrible, when there was a dodgy story they would refer to the tale as "a story worthy of Harry Potter" and things of the like.

"The question of whether or not Potter was telling the truth was the highlight of fifth year - that was until Fudge's intentions for the hiring if Dolores Umbridge became obvious."

The name rang a bell. Centaurs that resided in the Forbidden Forest had been getting quite rowdy lately. Apparently they were going through some hierarchical shifts within their breed, and the threat being posed on school grounds wasn't exactly being ignored by the Ministry.

"You mean that awful woman they talk about whenever there's a centaur story in the paper?"

"She's the one! She was probably the most foul, evil, cunning, hypocritical, lying, little _bitch_ I've ever had the misfortune to meet. In my books, she's worse Voldemort himself. He probably hated her just as much.

Back at Hogwarts she always wore a hideous shade of pink, a fake smile, and had a false, high pitched cheery voice. She was not only discriminating against Muggleborns, but against other species as well. It was made sure that she was placed in Azkaban on multiple charges, and I was on the squad that had the privilege of searching her home and office, finding numerous Dark objects and dangerous little magical items disguised as everyday items, like _quills_."

My mum took a sip of her tea and shivered whilst scratching the back of her left hand, which had odd remnants of a weird little scar that used to fascinate me when I was younger. She took a deep breath, and then continued.

"Things really began to boil after she was appointed the _High-Inquisitor_ of Hogwarts. She made the most controlling "Ministry-approved" rules the school ever saw: Students weren't allowed to be within eight inches of each other; we weren't allowed to socialize in groups of more than three; we were submitted to questioning at random; clubs and sports had to disband then be re-approved specifically by her. She even had the nerve to approve the Slytherin House Quidditch team, but contemplate disbanding the Gryffindor House team. She was biased, hypocritical, and unfair, and that's when much of the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and even some Ravenclaws joined a secret society started by Harry Potter himself, and his two best friends. Dumbledore's Army."

My mother talked about Dumbledore's Army occasionally, when I brought up someone from school whose parents had been in the secret organization.

"At first, Angelina wasn't so sure that I should join, she was responsible for me, and all that jazz. We both knew that it wasn't a good idea for _both_ of us to be breaking rules though, so, she joined first, and I came along afterwards.

Umbridge didn't really know what was going on for a while. She soon grew suspicious though and began to investigate, though she was never able to catch us coming out of or entering the Room of Requirement. We used charmed galleons so that we knew when to meet. It was liberating, breaking almost all of her rules and sneaking around the castle, but we were finally busted by some Ravenclaw who told and we weren't able to meet anymore.

I was especially put out, since Dumbledore's Army gave me a reason to talk to your dad, who I'd had a secret crush on since fourth year when he laughed at some joke I told then passed me the pudding at dinner."

She had an amused look on her face that indicated that it must have either been a really magical moment, or a_ really_ funny joke.

"At the end of that year, there was an incident in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic - having to do with Potter, of course, -, and it was announced that Voldy, was indeed back. My parents put extra safety precautions on the house - as if that would _actually_ keep him out," she said with a bit of a bitter tone to her voice.

"We were more careful and our life was rapidly changing. In the mists of a progressing war, though, all I cared about was going to school without being known as 'Angelina's younger sister'.

I was so naive. I really didn't completely understand everything that was going on. I was more concerned with finding my place in the world. Everyone expected me to be just like Angie," my mum sighed.

"She was the best looking girl in her year. Tall, athletic, yet graceful with her long braids and strong stance – not to mention her sassiness. She wasn't just a girl, she was 'fiery, fierce, and feisty' as Lee used to call her. It was easy to tell we were related, we had similar features, but my face was rounder, I was shorter and curvier while she had that athletic build that made all the boys go wild. I was the slightly more laid back sister, the shadow most of the time, which was why the sun would shine on me Sixth Year.

Over the summer, the Dark Lord was far from my mind, I was working up a way to get to know Dean better for the upcoming year. Hannah and I became good friends and we'd taken to making up scenarios for things to say to Dean and Neville."

My mum started to chuckle as she reminisced, "We were such silly girls then. Hannah was always so shy, but really wanted to let Neville know that she liked him, so I suggested that she pot a singing plant - I could never remember the name of it - and teach it a love song to give to Neville.

Though I was much more outspoken than Hannah, there was no way I was about to tell Dean how I felt, I was fine with nothing ever resulting from my infatuation. I'd settled into a sort of bitter content," she sighed heavily.

"And then I found out he had been dating Ginny Weasley since the end of the previous year. She was a nice girl and a friend of mine, so I couldn't really get mad at her, but I was particularly nasty to your father at times when he spoke to me. He didn't know what had gotten into me, and even asked if I was okay at one point, but I didn't let up. Not until after he and Ginny broke up that is, but then I had to rebuild what I'd damaged.

Being a boy, he was more than a little confused."

* * *

_Olivia woke up that morning feeling particularly refreshed and pulled back the curtains of her bed. It was the day of the last Quidditch match, and a party was being planned for afterwards. What the Gryffindors would do if they lost, nobody knew._

_Olivia sighed, looking over to her bedside table, a note waiting for her from her friend, Francine, who was in the year below._

_**Going to be in the library. Need to pick up a book so that I can finish an essay for Flitwick before tonight. I'll see you at breakfast.**_

_"Okay, __**see ya**__." Olivia said groggily and slightly irritated at being left behind. __**That'll be Creevey,**__ she thought, knowing the real reason behind her friend's motives._

_She sat up in her bed, breathing heavily, stretched and yawned. She looked around and it seemed that Hermione Granger was just waking up as well; wild hair bushier than most people in school ever saw it. She smiled. Hermione had always been nice to her, so she said cheerily, "Good morning, Hermione."_

_Hermione turned to Olivia in her rush to get dressed, smiled and said, "Morning, Olivia. Sorry, I would stay and chat, but, well, you know-" She gestured towards the soft snoring coming from the beds belonging to Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil; the most gossipy girls in Gryffindor House; one of which dated the object of her affections not too long ago. The relationship ended nastily though, so Hermione and Lavender weren't too keen on spending any 'quality time' with one another. _

_"I understand completely." Olivia told her, sighing as well. _

_"Thanks." Hermione said gratefully as she quickly did a charm on her hair then brushed it to a more tamed state. She headed towards the door, but suddenly stopped, and turned back to Olivia. _

_"You should know...Ginny and Dean have broken up. For good," she said, giving her a knowing smile then turned once again leaving through the door._

_**I knew today was going to be great!**_

_She couldn't help herself. She screamed aloud, "YES!" Promptly awaking and irritating Lavender, confusing Parvati, and completely frightening Eloise. She hopped immediately upon her bed and began to do a sort of jig, singing about how much she loved that day._

_She then put on a tee shirt and a nice pair of jeans, brushed her teeth and charmed her hair so that it was straight and brushed her shoulders, then skipped down the spiral staircase of the Girls' Dormitory. She was so cheerful, Ginny, who had forgotten something and was heading back upstairs, stopped her and asked in a sincere tone with her eyebrows raised, "Did you take an Anti-PMS potion this morning or have you been smoking that weird Muggle stuff?"_

_Olivia responded "Neither, but I feel like I took Liquid Luck!"_

_Ginevra simply shook her head smiling, and continued up the staircase murmuring, "Must be a boy..."_

_Too right she was, as said boy was found emerging from the Boys' Dormitory in a Quidditch uniform with Seamus Finnegan, his best friend. His eyebrows were furrowed as he stared at Ginny's retreating figure. Olivia beamed and nearly screamed, but said just loud enough, "Morning Dean!" He snapped out of it and stared at her as if she had Spattergoit. Then he looked suspicious, probably from the incident that occurred the last time she was nice to him._

_Her underlying jealousy was so powerful, accidental magic ensued and his curly brown hair had caught on fire. This time though, he stared, confused, at her, and gingerly touched his hair. No fire. It wasn't even hot. Then he looked into a mirror on the wall, he hadn't changed color or anything. Then he looked back at her, looking for any indication of malice. Nothing, she looked innocent, so he spoke. "H-hi Olivia." _

_Seamus laughed hard then said, "I don't think she is going to jinx you Dean." _

_"No, I don't suppose she will." He still looked wary though._

_"I won't. Promise. Last time it was an accident, I'm sorry. I was feeling a little...er..nevermind. I am sorry though," Olivia smiled shyly and blushed. "Anyways, what were you two up to?" Seamus was still clutching his sides in laughter at his best friend's misfortune._

_"We were er, about to go down to breakfast?" Dean was genuinely confused at this point, but Seamus, trying to catch his breath, seemed to have caught on to the situation._

_"Yeah, unless you want to have a word with Dean-" Seamus hinted, grinning._

_"NO!" Olivia yelled, startling herself. "I mean, not that I don't want to, but I don't need to. Just wanted to erm…wish you luck during the match! I'll erm, see you later." She smiled and said "Bye, Dean. Seamus," then left through the portrait hole. _

_Meanwhile, Dean stood there, still confused, Seamus, still amused._

_"Girls..." Seamus mused aloud._

_"Yeah, they are all mad. I'll never understand them." Dean said, frustrated._

_Seamus just laughed as they too, left through the portrait hole._

* * *

My mum smiled serenely then said quietly, "I wish I hadn't been so impossible to understand though, if I had known that he wouldn't return the next year I would have been nicer."

My eyebrows furrowed. What was she talking about? He hadn't been at Hogwarts for their Seventh Year? But that was when N.E.W.T exams were given!

"Your dad wasn't there for our seventh year. It was better that way though. However, it's his story to tell." She turned towards the entry of the dining room and there he leaned casually against the door frame - nearly as tall.

"Ahh, telling her about the war, are you? Figured she'd ask, Seth has the same assignment. I just Flooed Axel and Max over there to play Quidditch, and Corbin is at the Longbottom's with Alice."

He chuckled at his eldest son, who was seventeen and dating Neville Longbottom's daughter but didn't know what the hell he was doing.

"Mhm," My mum replied, beaming at him, "and I was _hoping_ you'd tell her your story. It's so much more interesting than mine, and I've only heard it once."

"Well that's because I've only told it twice, once to you, once to Seamus. My mother doesn't even know the whole thing, though she tries to pry out information. I just tell her that I stayed at a Muggle hotel and then there was a fight at Hogwarts. She doesn't need to know the details of how I did it. When I told you it just kind of spewed out, I felt like you should know," he looked at her sweetly.

"Well can you 'just spew it' out again, then?" she said gently, blushing a little.

He gave her a look that I couldn't quite read.

"Okay, it's fine. It was just for Cressie's project." My mum said softly, pressing the stop button on the recorder."

"Well, I guess I could." That was just like my dad to change his mind at the last minute, probably succumbing to my mother's unspoken plea.

My dad uncrossed his arms and moved from the door frame to a chair across from my mum. My mother turned the recorder back on, and then he sighed and began his story.

"The war became real in the summer after sixth year. Voldemort was on the move, the Ministry of Magic was weak, and I knew I wasn't going back to Hogwarts..."

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**Reviews are encouraged and appreciated. :)**


	3. On the Run

**Disclaimer: Do I really need to add a disclaimer to every chapter? I thought we'd already established that I'm not JKR and not trying to steal her work.**

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_On a long street, with many houses similar in size, with lawns, and dogs, and children, and_ _general happiness, there lived a family of six. The family was fairly normal. The mother a homemaker, the father a doctor; they had four children; three young girls, and an older boy. _

_From the outside, or even from the inside, they would seem like the perfect family; all were happy, all were healthy. _

_The parents were even lucky enough that their son was a Wizard and attended a Wizarding school to learn magic. He loved the school enough not to inform his parents of the dangers the school faced over the years; trolls, attacks on Muggleborn children like himself, the unknown presence of a notorious mass murderer, the homicide of a student as a result of a school event, the return of the single most dangerous and evil wizard of all time, the assassination of the school's headmaster, you know, the usual._

_This boy, Dean Thomas, sat on his bed reading a magazine with his eyebrows furrowed. _

_"DEAN! Mum says dinner will be ready in five minutes!" _

_**Merlin that girl can yell**__, he thought as he cringed at the volume of his younger sister's voice._

_"Alright! I'll be down, I've just got to finish...this..." Dean yelled back as he returned to reading The Quibbler, which he'd taken to reading after his fifth year at Hogwarts._

_He sighed. Voldemort was back, and though there weren't any sightings of him, it was obvious the man was on the move. The Ministry of Magic was making changes, drastic ones. They were even contemplating a registry and hearing for Muggleborns._

_"I don't believe it." He whispered to no one in particular. __**I've got to speak with Seamus**__, he thought, tossing aside the Quibbler and slowly rising and stretching from his position on the bed. He'd just opened his bedroom door when his five year old sister came bouncing down the corridor screaming his name in a sing-song way._

_"DEANNIE! Time for DINNER!" The small girl sang, whilst twirling around._

_"I'm coming!" Dean growled, he'd had a lot on his mind and the shrill shrieks of little girls did not help. _

_**What am I going to do? Witches and wizards going missing, probably at this very moment, whole Muggle families being wiped out. I can't just wait around for that to happen to my family**__. _

_He descended the stairs to the first landing. He leaned in the doorway and observed his family whilst thinking about the Muggle family that was murdered by Death Eaters. His sister squealed as she needed help into a large chair. Dean fought not to roll his eyes as he kindly lifted her by the shoulders into her chair, it could have easily been his sister instead of the girl in that photo._

_He suddenly felt sick and afraid. What if they found his family? Hurt his mum? His dad? Richard wasn't really his father, but he'd been there since Dean was four, so he was as good as. What made him mentally crack though was the thought of someone touching any one of his little sisters? His jaw locked as he observed the three of them, chattering quite loudly at the table._

_Denise, only eleven with her single curly ponytail and perfect nose, sat animatedly chatting with Rachel about a program she'd seen on television. Dean couldn't help but think that if she had possessed magical abilities she would have been attending Hogwarts this year, like he did when he was eleven. He smiled at the thought of his eleven year old self, confused, frightened, yet pleased at his fortune. He'd finally figured out why he was able to make the football float when he needed it to, or confuse the referee to red card the opposite team. He turned to Rachel next._

_Eight, with one long braid down her back, the way she always wore it to a game and decorated it with specific colored barrettes to support her team. Her loyalty made him think of Hufflepuff house. The loyalty shown by the house was immense. Hufflepuff always supported Gryffindor, but during the Tri-Wizard Tournament in Fourth Year, Hufflepuff supported their house star. __**If Rachel ever goes to Hogwarts**__, she'll be in Hufflepuff, he predicted with pride. _

_Lastly was Rochelle. She was only five, but acted as if she was twenty-five. Her small, pig-tailed head was always into something she shouldn't and she almost always got her way. She was perhaps the one that had him most afraid to leave, he felt he owed the little girl especially, since he was at Hogwarts when she was born, they never spent enough proper time together before he would have to leave for Hogwarts again. _

_He sighed, and focused on getting through the night, which he would spend most of awake, listening for sounds of intruders. The practice couldn't continue, however, a boy needs his sleep. No, he'd need to put protective enchantments on the house. The next day he would need to go to Seamus and his mother to figure out what to do._

_After dinner, he went back to his room to send his owl, Casper, to Seamus with a note. He would still be awake, no doubt, owling Lavender._

**Seamus,**

**I'll be there tomorrow after lunch. We need to talk. Your mum should probably be there as well. Tell Lavender I say hello.**

**Dean**

_Dean shook his head at the thought of his best mate dating Lavender. Again. They'd been on and off through fifth year, and off sixth; as Lavender dated, if you could call it dating, Ron Weasley. It seemed as if girls just went from one guy to the next easily those days. Lavender sought the arms of Seamus just two weeks after her breakup with Ron, and Ginny was dating Harry not too long after her own breakup with Dean. _

_This confused Dean, especially since Parvati began showing interest in him and Angelina's sister, Olivia began speaking to him again. __**Girls just give me headaches, especially my sisters.**_

_With that, he fell asleep for a few hours before subconsciously waking himself up to watch the house and the street._

* * *

_The next day, Dean Apparated over to Seamus' house. They'd been sitting around, talking about anything and everything, what best friends do, when Dean figured he might as well get on with the big reason he was there._

_"I-I don't think I'll be going back to Hogwarts this year, mate." Dean waited patiently for Seamus's response._

_It took Seamus a moment to let the idea sink in, before he sighed and replied, "I expected as much, to be honest. I'm disappointed, but not surprised, really. Just one thing though… what will ye do? Ye can't very well just stay home."_

_Dean was relieved that Seamus had been understanding about the situation, and as a master of fooling parental units, he already had plans for what he would do until it was safer for Muggleborns. "Well, for a while I suppose I'll be on the run, go into hiding someplace. Eventually though, depending on how things go in the Wizarding World, I'll either merge back into the Muggle world, go home, or if everything goes well, go back to Hogwarts."_

_As the best friend of such a sneaky mastermind, Seamus's duty was to discover all holes in his plans, and therefore asked, "And how exactly do ye plan to tell yer mam that ye aren't going to school, that they are probably going to be hunted down, and that ye are going to go on some sort of aimless expedition to stay alive?" _

_Dean stated simply, "I don't tell her that. I come here like normal the day before we go back to Hogwarts, that'll get me out. She'll eventually figure it all out when McGonagall owls them, but at least they'll be sane for at least a little while longer." _

_Now Seamus was a little confused, "And how are ye going to explain to my mam that ye aren't going back? If you say that ye are going into hiding, she'll Floo yer mam!" Seamus said, exasperated at the thought of his mother finding out, she was already mental, that would put her over the edge though. _

_Dean once again stated simply, "We don't tell her. She won't even know I'm here. We'll tell her that I'm Apparating to King's Cross this year. She'll never even know I'm in the house. Then, I leave early the next morning."_

_Seamus couldn't find any more flaws in Dean's plan to prevent him from leaving, or stall him, so he simply said, "I don't like it mate, but okay."_

_Dean beamed though. "Thanks! Now I just need your mother to teach me some protective enchantments!"_

_Seamus smiled at the thought of using magic, "I still don't like it." _

_But Dean was already out of Seamus's bedroom door, heading towards the kitchen._

* * *

_They'd been sitting at the table, quietly contemplating ways to ask Seamus's mother about protective enchantments for Dean's family when Mrs. Finnigan entered the kitchen. She wore emerald robes and had brown hair with flecks of red in it that she kept tied back. Her face was set, as if she didn't smile very frequently and her overall aura was slightly intimidating. It reminded Dean a lot of Professor McGonagall, who he would miss dearly. Dean raised his eyebrows towards Seamus, and in response, he nodded once._

_"Erm, Mrs. Finnigan, I was wondering if you would be able to help me with something," Dean began._

_"Hmm, and what might that be, eh?" She inquired flatly, while searching through the cabinets manually._

_"Well, I was wondering if you'd be able to help me put up some protective enchantments around my house and court. I figured I'd need to protect my family before I leave at the end of the summer holidays."_

_Mrs. Finnigan froze for a moment, and then turned back around slowly, looking towards the door, then into the other room -Mr. Finnegan didn't know the extent of the brewing war- before whispering, "I suppose you will need help, then. In these dark times one can never be too careful. Wizard Repellant Charm should work well. 'Lot like Muggle insect repellant, only on wizards. No wizard will be able to come near the place. Though then it makes it obvious that someone's put a charm there. Determined Dark Wizards would be able to penetrate it though." _

_She thought for another moment, and said "Hm, ye could use the Fidelus Charm. It's popular now. Best way to keep anyone from being found. Tricky though, the Fidelus Charm, and they wouldn't be able to leave the house. No, that won't do." She tutted for a moment, then exclaimed "Got it! The Effigias Charm. Alters itself to the enchanter's specific protective needs. Most don't bother with it since it requires such specific desires. It's simpler than the Fidelus Charm and it won't interfere too much with Muggles." _

_"That's perfect. I want their lives to be as normal as possible," Dean explained._

_"What is the incantation, mam?" Seamus asked eagerly._

_She cleared her throat before announcing, "Protego Effigias! Ye want to move yer wand in a clockwise figure eight movement, then counter-clockwise, then walk around the perimeter that you want to charm. However, ye must think PRECISELY whom you want to be able to penetrate the area, or else one can easily find a loophole."_

_"Can we practice on the house mam?" Seamus asked eagerly, again._

_She gave a stern look at each of them before answering, "Alright, but do any damage and I'll have yer hide, understand?"_

_Dean nodded his head understandingly, but Seamus just grinned, already plotting to use his father as the unsuspecting Muggle._

* * *

_Soon it was time for Dean to 'return to Hogwarts'. He'd already said goodbye to his parents, who were talking in the kitchen, and only had his little sister's left. _

_He knocked on Denise's door and she consented to him entering. He was pleasantly surprised to find Rachel there as well._

_"Well, I'm leaving, come give me a hug, then." Rachel flew into his awaiting arms, but Denise was more reluctant as she would be attending secondary school and wanted to grow out of her 'childish ways'. She grudgingly obliged though before gasping, "Alright, alright, you can leave now."_

_"Fine." He responded, a little hurt since he knew what awaited in his future. "But look, take care of yourselves, and NO boyfriends, you are too young for that." He said, thinking of his relationship with Ginny. He ducked as Denise hurled a pillow at him, "Love you Denny!" He screamed as she slammed the door in his face._

_He rounded the corner to find Rochelle watching television in the lounge. She was sitting cross-legged on the couch, with her back to the entryway. Dean crouched low, and slowly made his way closer to the couch before pouncing on the little girl and tickling her. She immediately burst into giggles and squeals._

_"I. Am. Going. To. Miss. You. So. Much!" Dean said to her as she continued to squeal. When he finally stopped, she crawled atop his shoulders and looked down into his face from above._

_"Do you have to go back to school already?" She pouted._

_"'Fraid so, 'Shelle. But don't worry, I have fun at school!" Dean told her brightly._

_The little girl pondered that for a moment before asking, "Who is going to scare away the monsters at night though?"_

_"Daddy of course! There's no one better!" Dean reassured her._

_"He doesn't do it properly, they just go and hide in the closet 'till he leaves," she said, clearly annoyed. "I want you to do it!"_

_Dean sighed, and said "Look," and went into his pocket and took out a galleon. Her eyes shone with curiosity. "This is a galleon. In my world, where I go to school, goblins make and guard these." He told her. "Keep it, and it will protect you from the monsters!"_

_She looked extremely pleased by the piece of the magical world, but then looked confused, "Aren't goblins monsters though?"_

_"Not where I go to school. Where I go to school, they run the bank, and make treasure! There is no safer place, other than my school, than the bank they run." He stated clearly._

_"Oh." She said, mesmerized by the galleon._

_"So I'll see you soon then?" Dean asked, giving her a squeezed._

_She nodded her head and slid from his shoulders, and he got up, and was almost to the stairs before turning back and saying, "'Love you, 'Shelle." But she was already watching the television again, galleon in hand. Little did she know the galleon was charmed so that if any magic was done near their home, Dean would know immediately. He got the idea from the galleons used for Dumbledore's Army, but did a little research to figure out how he could make it detect magic._

_He sighed and began climbing the stairs slowly to his bedroom, where he would gather his things and Apparate. _

_He was ready. In his school trunk he had all his school things. In his rucksack he had clothes, personal items, medicine, some food which he'd be able to multiply with a simple charm, a sleeping bag, a small tent, a radio, a few spell books, both Wizarding and Muggle money, and pictures of his family. With one last look around his room, he turned on the spot._

* * *

_The night at the Finnigan's was quiet, Dean and Seamus didn't speak much, but the last words Seamus said before falling asleep were, "Good luck, mate." The next morning, Dean was gone._

* * *

_For a few weeks, Dean stayed in the Muggle world. It was easier to hide that way, especially since he grew up Muggle. He blended in well. He stayed in various shabby hotels as they were cheaper and he could easily spiff it up with a wave of his wand. As long as he stayed on the move he could use different names and identities. In more populated areas, he'd get short term jobs like, dishwashing or bell-hopping to keep his money relatively high._

_Soon though, he began recognizing magic in the Muggle world, Wizards were near and no doubt they would know he was magical. He knew it was time to disappear for real and in the bathroom of his sixth hotel's lobby, he Disapparated._

* * *

_His family had only gone hiking about three times, which didn't give him many options for Apparating in the woods, but he ended up near a lake he and his step-dad had fished at. It seemed quiet and peaceful, so he set up there. After two days there however, he'd decided that he had to move on to keep from making his presence there obvious._

_Next he Apparated to a cliff, sat down and began eating an apple when he heard voices coming from below him. He gingerly leaned over the side a little to find the source of the voices. He gasped audibly, and moved back out of sight. There were about five men, brandishing wands and walking with a cart. They were dressed in dark clothing and didn't look too friendly. Dean knew he couldn't stay there, even with his protective enchantments, it was too risky, so he put his things away in record time with a wave of his wand, and once again, Disapparated into nothingness._

* * *

_He kept on in that manner, never staying in one place too long, and most often traveling on foot._

_One afternoon a few weeks later, he stopped to have some lunch, leaning up against a large tree, when he heard something. He would frequently 'hear something' when he was in a particularly clear area, but this time was different. __I'm not mad.__ He thought._

_He dropped his apple, put his rucksack on his shoulders, and held his wand at the ready. He looked left, right, and then left again. To his right, a portly man held his wand at the ready as well, and when given the opportunity, bellowed, "Expelliarmus!" Dean's wand was snatched out of his hands and he spun around, looking desperately for the source of the commotion and his wand. He wished he hadn't though, as an angry looking man stood nearby, brandishing both of their wands. "Name!" The man yelled._

_"Wha-What?" Dean asked dumbly._

_"Name! Your name! Who are you?! What are you doing out here?!"_

_"D-Dean. I'm, erm, camping. What are you doing here? And what is your name?" He responded smartly. __What's he playing at?_

_"'Camping.' A likely story. You don't look old enough to be 'camping' alone. Where are your parents?" _

_"Where are your parents?" He wasn't going to give an inch if this stranger wasn't._

_"Just like my daughter, you are. Fine, I see you aren't going to give. Smart. You on the run, kid?"_

_"You on the run, man?" He responded._

_"Alright! I said truce." The older man said, holding out his hand. Dean was still unarmed though, so he just stood there and crossed his arms. "I'm not a Snatcher, you know."_

_"Snatcher? What's a Snatcher?"_

_"'What's a Snatcher?' That must mean you've been lucky enough to avoid them. They are Wizards roundin' up Muggleborns for gold, see."_

_"Oh." Now that his fear was suppressed, he could sense that this man did not want to harm him, so he shook his hand, which was still being held out. "Dean. Dean Thomas. Sorry I was so difficult. Can't be too careful, can I? Anyways, yeah, I'm on the run. I should be at Hogwarts, but I read about the Muggle Registry and knew it was just a way for the Ministry to find us and lock us up, and for something we can't control, no less. What are you doing out here?"_

_The man beamed, "Same thing. Never thought I'd see the day they actually came looking for Muggleborns. These are mad times we live in. My wife's pureblood, so she should be alright if I'm nowhere near her. Same with my daughter, though she's pregnant, and by a werewolf, so they might not like that too much. Hell, I didn't either when she first told us, but at the present we've got to have something to look forward to, and a baby, no matter how hairy, may be that something. Whoops! Here's your wand back. Ted Tonks by the way. Shall we keep moving? Shouldn't stay in one place too long, and there is safety in numbers."_

_The two moved on deeper into the forest, talking about the current condition of their world and what their next move would be._

* * *

_It had been a few days when they were accompanied by another man, Dirk Cresswell, and two goblins, Gornuk and Griphook. Dean felt much better about being with others versus being alone. Constant companionship kept him from going mad with thoughts of his family, friends, and especially Ginny. They found more food, and began to be a lot more comfortable while on the run, but one day, they got a little too comfortable, and let their guard down. They were on the move through a clearing in the woods, chatting and even laughing loudly, when they walked head on into a gang of Snatchers._

_Two smaller men easily took down Dirk manually before he even could comprehend what was happening. Dean began dueling one of the larger ones, shouting "Stupefy!" and "Petrificous Totalus!" here and there. He'd even surprised himself by using non-verbal spells in his desperation. Tonks was putting up a really good fight to Dean's left. For such a large guy, he was surprisingly nimble. _

_It seemed that the five could get out of the situation, but then the Snatchers took the upper hand when their leader shouted, "This is stupid! Let's just finish this and get on! Avada Kedavra!" Ted Tonks fell to the ground._

_Dean stopped dueling the other Snatcher, in shock, but soon wished he hadn't. The Snatcher took the opportunity to punch him in the nose. Blood spewed everywhere. It wasn't broken, but close to. "No." Dean murmured inaudibly. To his right, Dirk was on his knees, begging for mercy, but the Snatchers showed no remorse, stabbing him when he screamed, "Get away from the kid!" Dirk Cresswell gasped for breath, but it was no use, and he too, fell silent. Gornuk was on the shoulders of one Snatcher and was trying to strangle him. Griphook was trying to kick another feebly. Dean was about to get up and attempt to save the two goblins, but lost his strength again when his snatcher kicked him to the ground once more. Dean felt himself repeatedly receiving blows to the head. His head ached with pain, and he sensed as he was losing consciousness the sound of chopping, and Gornuk falling to the ground. _

_"We goin' to kill the kid?" A toothy Snatcher asked thickly._

_"No you idiot!" The leader yelled irritably. "Ye can't kill a kid! It's immoral! 'Sides, we might get some gold for this one here, smells like a Mudblood! Keep the goblin too, we'll see what we can get for em! Load em up!" _

_Then he was under._

* * *

"When I woke up, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley were in my midst. I couldn't have been happier that they were alive as well. Harry Potter would get us out of it. He always did, never failed. They took us to Malfoy Manor, where they nearly killed Hermione by using the Cruciatus Curse on her. Somehow, a house elf came, but I was so disoriented and cold, I'm not sure what happened to be honest. But Luna Lovegood, and Ollivander -the Wandmaker- were there as well. Next thing I knew, I was at Shell Cottage, Bill Weasley's place."

My dad's eyes were far away. "I was so sure I was going to die when we got to Malfoy Manor. But as always, Harry Potter came through. Never understood how, but he did. And here I am." My dad gave a half smile and stood to make us all bowls of soup.

I hissed. I knew Scorpius Malfoy and he was a bloody git if I ever met one. How Rose Weasley treats him as if he isn't vermon I'll never understand?

My mum just sat there with her eyes fixed at a spot on the table.

My dad came back with the soup and rubbed my mother's shoulder before sliding her bowl and sitting down. He smiled this time though, "I sent messages to my family from Shell Cottage. I'm glad they are Muggles, oh the Howler I would have got. They were furious."

Mum finally spoke up, "Well, that is not the end of the story, there was still the actual battle. That had to be the most terrifying, and tiring night of my life."

"At least you were on a broomstick half the time. I was on the ground, running around with three broken fingers!" My dad added while chewing what was probably potatoes.

My mum beamed at me though, "That was one of my more brilliant plans. It helped save a lot of people, including your dad, who still couldn't put two and two together to realize that I fancied him."

"It wasn't my fault that you didn't make it obvious. That's what happens when you set someone's hair on fire. You don't tend to think 'wow, she must really like me'," he said incredulously.

"You're just mad because you were supposed to be a 'witch magnet' and you couldn't see-" My mother really did talk a lot sometimes. I was eager to know about this battle and here she was arguing.

"Luna Lovegood and I were at Shell Cottage when her galleon that she kept from Dumbledore's Army burned," he said while grinning over mum's ranting_. Thank Merlin_.

**Reviews are encouraged and appreciated. Again, if you want, I'll even read a story of yours that you request in a review. :)**


	4. This is War

**Disclaimer: This is the last time I'm going to do this. If you don't believe me…I'm not JKR and it's beginning to get irritating to have to clarify that.**

* * *

The handsome large house that sat on a quiet road had but a few lights on. There were only three inhabitants home, however, so the mostly dark house was quite still. Dean Thomas, his wife Olivia, and their eldest daughter, Cressida, sat discussing the war, and were just about to begin talking about the actual Battle at Hogwarts.

"Let me just start the dishes, then." Olivia said while waving her wand first at the table, then at the direction of the kitchen. The dishes from their meal floated into the kitchen and sounds of water splashing could be heard from the dining room.

Dean decided to start first, "When Luna and I got the message that Harry was back at Hogwarts, I didn't have a wand." He said grimly, as it was the only time since he'd been eleven that he'd ever felt so vulnerable.

My mum sort of smirked, "Luckily, when Luna was taken from the Hogwarts Express at Christmas, she dropped her wand and it rolled under a seat. Though the rest of the D.A. was either frightened or wanted to fight right there on the train, I was calm, and noticing her wand, pocketed it. At the time, it was important to keep spare wands for occasions such as this. When Dean and Luna arrived at Hogwarts, Dean wandless, I was able to give him Luna's." She looked at my dad with the same smirk on her face, and I felt like I was missing something.

* * *

_Olivia had a mind splitting headache, it was always that way since she'd moved up to the Room of Requirement. She had to keep her nose out of trouble to make sure she'd be around to help mend and heal the members who'd been tortured and mangled by the Carrows along with Hannah. The two were enrolled in advanced N.E.W.T level classes that despite the taking over of Hogwarts, were particularly helpful. Together, the two knew how to fix mild injures in about a second, but as the D.A. got more and more reckless, it took more and more of their energy to keep up, and some things needed special attention from Madam Pomfrey, who had already been instructed not to heal injuries inflicted from punishment. Olivia was also instructed by Professor McGonagall to check on and keep watch over the younger Gryffindors as best she could. Since the house Prefects were gone and the older students stayed in the Room of Requirement, first through fourth years had virtually no supervision._

_She'd been lying in her hammock, trying to rest, when it happened. Harry Potter returned. And after the initial shock and interrogation, the meaning behind Harry Potter's return sank in, and Olivia realized that they were probably in for it. She got up, head positively throbbing, and listened to the conversation intently. Then, her heart stopped when Lunatic Luna and none other than Dean Thomas came through the tunnel door and into view. In an instant, her headache was gone. She just stared off into space for a moment, but was pulled out when she heard Dean say that he didn't have a wand. She didn't keep Luna's wand for nothing though._

_"Here, Dean," She said confidently, digging the wand out of her small bag of stuff. "It's Luna's old one, she dropped it when she was taken from the Hogwarts express," she made her face into a smile when she looked at Luna and nodded._

_"Thanks, Johnson!" He looked it over and tried it out on Seamus. "Stupefy!" Seamus immediately fell to the ground, paralyzed. _**Great, my surname, again.**_ She thought as her confidence wavered a bit._

_She contented herself with watching Dean and Seamus talk and practice spells with Luna's wand, when her heart stopped again. Only this time, she nearly sobbed instead of being frozen. Her sister, who she hadn't seen or heard from in _months_ was now climbing through the tunnel door. She barely thought before she collided with Angelina, and there was a loud commotion as more people climbed through the tunnel._

_Angelina looked her over quickly, in a sisterly way, tears threatening to take over. "Are you okay? Those Carrows didn't touch you did they? Have they been feeding you well? You are much too thin!"_

_"Yes, I'm fine! Not too much, I was good. They've been regulating our meals, and the Dementors are no help." Olivia replied through gasps for breath._

_Angelina grumbled something inaudible as the group began making their way out of the Room._

_"Have you got your broomstick, 'Livia?" Angelina asked a bit worried._

_"Yeah. I hid it so that they wouldn't take it away when they went checking." Her younger sister answered with pride on her smart thinking._

_Angelina then turned toward her and said, "Summon it, I have a bad feeling."_

_Olivia, not having seen her sister in months, obeyed without argument. "Accio Nimbus 2000!" It was the last gift she'd received from her uncle before the family went into hiding._

_"Listen, if anything bad happens tonight, if I'm not there, fly."_

_"What are you tal-"_

_"Don't you see, Olivia? This is it. We're fighting. That's why we've all been called back. Fly. If we don't win and you can't find me, go North. I'll catch up, if I can...a lot of the others will find you. Lee, Wood, and Alicia, the Weasleys they'll take care of you."_

_She was about to argue that nothing would happen, but stopped at the look Angelina was giving her, and obliged to her sister's wishes, more because she was grateful to see her again than anything._

* * *

"I was beyond relieved to see my sister, but I think she was even happier to see me," My mum said. "And your father - I thought he'd been snatched, or even killed. Either way, I'd resolved to think I'd never see him again."

"I completely forgot that she was the one who'd given me Luna's wand..."

Mum's smirk grew stronger, "I knew you would."

Ignoring my parents' commentary, and eager to get back to the story, I urged them on, "So, what happened next? Where did you go? What did you do?"

They looked at each other briefly before my mother continued.

"Professor McGonagall ordered the Prefects to get the younger students out of the castle before the impending battle. Well, _our_ Prefects were a little preoccupied, so I took on the job of getting the Gryffindors out. That failed _miserably_. The younger years were much more compliant, but the fourth, fifth, and a lot of the sixth years that hadn't yet turned seventeen yet were quite difficult to control."

* * *

_"Alright you Ickles!" Olivia joked, trying to keep the mood as light as possible in the impending doom. "You heard McGonagall! I need your cooperation!" Olivia had been able to get them to the fifth floor without too much fuss. A little complaining here and there from sixth years, but it was easier than expected, amid the shouting older siblings and crying first years. _

_Then, once the Fourth Years were through, all Hell broke loose. Peaks, Collin Creevy, and his little brother Dennis attempted to mildly hex Olivia so they could make their way back to the fight. What they didn't know, however, was that Olivia was capable of an exceptionally strong Protection Charm, a skill learned from the D.A., and for a few moments, the four were pretty close to dueling. Olivia, extremely annoyed, and anxious to get back to her sister and the other fighters, slashed her wand downward through the air, and with a particularly loud clashing noise the three younger boys were on their bums, grumbling. She might have been able to finally push them through the door with a Herding Charm, but her attention was caught when a much more drastic problem approached. _

_Dementors._

_She could feel the chill in her bones, lungs, and brain. In an instant, her annoyance became depression, and she felt as if she would never be happy again. **Why should she ever be happy? Her sister treated her like a kid, her family were in hiding and nowhere to be found, she lived in constant fear of the Carrows, Death Eaters, and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, there was a Battle impending in which the potential that she would be killed was high, she was hungry, she was tired, and Dean called her by her surname.** Dean. He was alive, thin, but decent looking, and he was happy and smiling when he was talking with his best friend, Seamus. Angelina was smiling too, when she first saw her younger sister. There really was light that lived through all of this darkness._

_**She was eleven, and along with her Hogwarts letter, she'd gotten a small striped kitten for her birthday after she'd fallen fifteen feet from her broom. With a broken leg and a concussion, she stayed in bed for two days recovering, while deciding what to name the small kitten which had been playing on her bed.**_

"_**Alibi," she giggled, and grabbed the kitten up as it stopped playing with a loose thread and cocked her head at her. "I'm going to call you Alibi. If I get into trouble, you'll say I was with you, right?" **_

_**The kitten meowed. **_

"_**I thought so."**_

_With that memory, she bellowed, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Her giant silver whale went charging towards the Dementor. There was another behind the small group of Gryffindors left outside of the Room of Requirement, and in the same rush, she turned her wand towards it and the whale charged it. The Dementors glided back through the windows of the fifth floor. The three boys were shaken, but alright. Olivia was murderous at that point. _

_"GET IN THERE, NOW!" _

_Dennis ran in. But Collin and Peaks pushed past her and went back towards the Great Hall. She threw spells at them all the way, but they blocked every one. She'd just about given up on the two, when she was hit from behind with a Stinging jinx. She whirled around to see Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini, sneering at her._

_Pansy started, pointing her wand at Olivia, "Johnson. What a _pathetic_ excuse for a Prefect. I suppose that would be why you were never chosen as one. You can't even control your own house students, let alone stu-" _

_She was cut off however by Lavender Brown, who was with a small group of presumed fighters. Lavender had hit her with a Tongue Tying jinx. It was quite Muggle movie like, the way the fighters stood at the ready, daring Zabini to say anything or they'd do the same to him. For a moment, the two houses stood there, glaring at each other. Centuries of House tension was taken to its limits as Zabini broke the stare down, aiming a nasty curse at Olivia. That turned Olivia's already pissy mood into one of raging homicide. It was _not_ a good day, clearly. Zabini was her second cousin, so she hadn't _actually_ expected for him to attack her, but apparently, when it came to war, lines would be blurred and crossed._

_"I got Zabini!" She shouted as Gryffindor and Slytherin went head to head. Lavender had taken on Pansy, while Cormac and Oliver tried their best to take down Millicent Bulstrode, who was quite large._

_Zabini dueled nastily, but Olivia could take him. She could do silent spells quite easily, whilst he used spells she'd never even seen. Bright and oddly colored sparks flew everywhere. Greens and reds were usually obvious, but Zabini had yellow, white, and even pink sparks emitting from his wand. Olivia finally got the majority of her rage with him out though, and realized the three Slytherins weren't worth it in the grand scheme of things. Without warning, she used a silent and difficult Reductor curse that sent Zabini, and Bulstrode were sent flying backwards, Pansy landing on the both of them._

* * *

My mum sighed, "I still can't believe he actually tried to curse me. It was never proved that he or his mother had anything to do with Death Eaters, the sneaky, two faced scab. It's been like this since before we were even born. And there was no chance for me to even make an attempt to fix it. He already hated Ange and I because our parents associated with _'bloodtraitors'_. It's only gotten worse since he found out about Dean and I." My mother shrugged as if she didn't really care, but my dad and I both knew she did deep down.

"I didn't really get any big duels like your mum here," he grinned at her. I was already with a group of fighters, so when things got hot, we really just took who we could, I didn't know most of my opponents."

"He was lucky. After I was done with Zabini," my mum spat the name, "Oliver and I were in the air, on broomsticks, so I saw the worst of the battle. And boy, was it bad."

"That's how she saved me the first time, Parvati and I had been dueling I believe it was Dolohov and Travers. Parvati blocked Dolohov's Stunning Spell at me with her own Body-Bind Curse. Travers took the opportunity to advance on us both though, and Olivia came zooming out of nowhere on a broomstick right behind Wood. I remember making eye contact with her for a moment before she dipped low and shot a curse straight at Travers' heart, then went back up, just as determined looking as before." My dad explained, "Who would have known I was going to marry her then?" My dad looked at my mum in awe.

"I did." My mum said smugly, "Nobody just likes someone for that long to not marry them! That would be tragic! I couldn't very well allow my future husband to be maimed or killed, or worse, now could I?"

She'd obviously never seen _Titanic._

I couldn't tell if my mum was being serious or not, so I just asked, "So what happened next?"

"Eh, more fighting, another near death experience for the two of us."

* * *

_Olivia had finally gotten off her broomstick, and used a well-practiced N.E.W.T. level spell to vanish it for the time being. She was now with Hannah Abbott and Francine, her best friends at Hogwarts. A lot of dueling had been taking place outside in the courtyard, so the three made their way there, tripping up some Death Eaters in the process._

_They spotted Collin dueling three Death Eaters at once, and Francine, being a noble girlfriend, rushed to help. Olivia and Hannah began observing where they could be of help and began throwing spells at the backs of Death Eaters who had the nerve to take on children. Looking around for her next victim, Olivia noticed Dean dueling with a particularly thick man in dark robes. _

_She was just about to hit him with a jinx when Dean looked in her direction, and yelled, "Oi! Behind you!" _

_It took a moment for it to register that he was indeed talking to her, but she paid for her moment of confusion and was hit in the back by an unidentified person and fell to the ground. Dean was there immediately though, helping her up. When she was back on her feet, she still held onto his hand for a moment, temporarily and stupidly distracted, but saw the man Dean was dueling earlier point his wand at Dean's back and without thinking pulled the two of them back down to the ground. _

_Lying flat on her back, she saw green light fly above their heads. She expected to be terrified afterwards, but instead, she was pissed. That git had tried to kill her and Dean. _

_She rolled on her left elbow, and used her first Unforgivable, "Crucio!" _

_The man fell to his knees and she hopped up. She lifted the curse then replaced it with a Body Binding Curse. _

_She briefly contemplated what to do with him, and then pointing her wand at him said, "Wingardium Leviosa!", then began guiding the floating body through the other dueling persons and over to a pillar. _

_"What are you doing with him?" Dean asked, a little worried. _

_"You'll see." Indeed he would, everyone would, as Olivia levitated the man to hang by his robes, exposing his underwear, and applied a permanent sticking charm. Amazingly, no one stopped her. After a brief smirk, the two returned to battle._

* * *

I was laughing, but my mum looked miserable, and I stopped quite abruptly. I'd never seen her look so...lost. "I lost my best friend that moment." She said quietly, "I-I didn't even realize where she was. I wasn't paying attention. I don't know what happened. I just remember laughing, then turning around and seeing her and Colin lying on the ground."

My dad reached over and took her hand and began soothing her quietly. She simply nodded. I'd never seen her so broken. She looked utterly helpless, like it was happening for her all over again.

I could only imagine what was going on in her head all those years. Had she made the right choice to go help my dad, by leaving her best friends? Could it have turned out differently? It was too emotional for me to think about. In that moment, my mother had indirectly made a choice. A choice that was probably part of the reason I was even here, listening to the story in the first place.

"That was really the end of it for most of the students. A few minutes later, Voldemort called it all off, and we all went back inside to the Great Hall. Your mum was a great help there as well, despite…erm, everything that happened, helping Madam Pomfrey with all the injuries. Every time I think back, I can't help but notice that your mum was extremely helpful, while Seamus, Ernie and I sat around."

He chuckled at that, still rubbing my mother's hand with his thumb. "A smaller battle continued after Harry faked his own death, the prat, but we weren't really a part of it. It was really just adults and teachers mostly, and Harry of course. As you know Harry finished off Tom Riddle, and the rest is history. Literally," he sat back in his chair, while still holding my mother's hand.

My mum spoke up at that note. "For me, it wasn't over though, my parents were nowhere to be found, they'd been in hiding to my knowledge, and Angelina was currently M.I.A. as well."

* * *

_Olivia did it. She was alive. Bloody, scarred, lost, singed, and torn, yes, but alive. She hadn't seen her sister in hours. After the initial celebrations of the downfall of the Dark Lord, everyone temporarily dispersed. They took naps, ate, sobbed, cried, and mended. Olivia searched for Angelina, but settled to helping Madam Pomfrey and the massive amount of Healers with healing the minor wounds so that they could focus on the more life threatening ones. _

_She couldn't help but notice that she didn't see her sister in any of the small crowds celebrating around the Great Hall. She really needed a break, so, recognizing some friendly faces near the makeshift infirmary, she went over to talk to Seamus and Dean, her fellow Gryffindors and classmates. Olivia reached Seamus and Dean and said, "Hey, you two. Glad to see you made it out of that mess okay." She was especially happy to see that Dean was alright._

_"Yeah, 'luck of the Irish' me mam would say! I'm just glad we were alive to fight. I thought we'd die in the Room of Requirement!"_

_Olivia was trying not to look at Dean for fear she would trip over her words. She was about to comment on their extended stay in the Come and Go Room when Dean groaned, clutching his right hand. Her head turned in a swift movement, and she locked eyes on him. It was her first time seeing him properly since she'd given him Luna's old wand. He had a few cuts on his face and she realized three of his fingers were broken._

_"I can fix those for you, Dean. And heal your cuts. I've been doing it all year for the D.A." She offered a bit shyly, but eagerly all the same._

_He let out another groan, and Seamus nodded, "She is really good! Fixed me nose a few times," at his friend's recommendation, Dean consented._

_"Episkey! Episkey! Episkey!" She said, pointing her wand at his three broken fingers. She hesitated before gently taking his hand to test her work. At her touch there was an electric shock, as if she'd been rubbing her feet across carpet and she hoped to Godric it had nothing to do with her feelings for him. She jerked her hand back, wincing before checking it again and ignoring what he obviously just felt as well, she waved her wand over his face and her silent spell immediately healed his wounds. _

_He smiled at her while flexing his fingers, "Thanks, Olivia! You know, you have a cut as well," he pointed to her face. She knew about the cut over her right eye, but it was quite deep and needed to be cleaned properly first._

_"I know, but I can't heal myself without a mirror. I missed back in November, the result was **not** good. Besides I think this should probably be cleaned first." She replied, blushing and looking desperately around for anything to distract her from his eyes. Seamus was grinning knowingly._

_"I-I need to find my sister, I haven't seen her in ages." Her face was visibly worried now, and she could feel herself becoming more scared, and frightened at the prospect that her sister had fallen in battle._

_"You should really clean that. I'll go ask Hannah or Parvati if they have something that would do it for you." Dean interrupted her thoughts. She didn't even get to reply before he dashed off. _

_The stress and fear was becoming too much for her now, and she knew she had to search for Angelina. Seamus, being his usual self, thought her worried expression had to do more with Dean than with Angelina and commented, "You should tell him, ye know. What if he hadn't made it through? I'm going to tell Lavender now!" _

_With that he was gone, and she, alone. She left the castle, to search near the destroyed Quidditch Pitch. She was on her way out the front doors franticly when she heard someone speak, and thinking it was Angelina she spun around, but was horrified to see Parvati and Dean. They were whispering closely, nearing a snog in a corner. _

_Her emotions taking over, she spun back around to quickly hide her face. She was running down the grounds by that time, more desperate than ever to find her older sister. She'd only seen her briefly before the battle, and before that, not for nine months. She fled the castle and everyone in it. She was crying and was hysterical internally; she ran around the Black Lake and stopped when reaching the other side. She could not be left alone in this world. Not after that. Not after losing Francine. She could not lose her sister too._

_She was ready to give up and instead search for Angelina's body, sobs already wracking her body with fear when she heard someone say her name loudly. She snapped her head up, and froze when she saw her sister staring back at her with a sort of tired smirk from afar. Then she ran and the two embraced harder than they ever had before._

* * *

I am especially awkward when it comes to emotional moments. I get it from my mother. It doesn't matter. Movies, stories, Daily Prophet posts, real life, we're both just awkward. So I completely ignored the sisterly reunion story, which she even looked uncomfortable telling. When I wasn't sure how to react, not to react at all was the way to go. Don't react and change the subject, story of my life.

"Dad," I began, "You seem to have had quite a few girlfriends. Was it a trend?" I said with my eyebrows raised.

He just rolled his eyes.

"It seems like it, doesn't it. But he was the serious 'relationship' type, which was why so many girls were interested in him," she sneered in an amused sort of way, "And you could tell he appreciated the attention, letting the girls who undermined his relationship with Ginny down easy. It took him _forever _to notice _me_ though," my mum chided with a big wad of what I could only describe as amused bitterness. "When I say _forever_, I mean forever."

He just ignored her, but smiled in an admiring way that I once again, did not understand. She smiled a little, a genuine smile, and continued.

"After a few days of staying with the Bells, Angelina found a new house for the both of us and Alicia – you know Alicia – and it just so happened to be on the same street as your dad here."

"And then I asked your mum out and we lived happily ever after," he butt in sarcastically.

"No. No, no, no. _You_ did not ask me out, your little sisters asked me out first. And even after that it took you a year, don't you muck up the story."

* * *

**Cries because I wish that I had more reviews :(**

******Reviews are encouraged and appreciated. Again, if you want, I'll even read a story of yours that you request in a review. :)**


	5. The Floo Network

**Disclaimer: If you still think I'm JKR, read the disclaimer's from previous chapters.**

* * *

_It was a hot, sweltering, depressing summer day. Just because the war had ended that didn't mean that people's lives just bounced back to normal. People were dead. Whole families had to be buried. Homes had to be rebuilt. In the case of the Johnson sisters, a new home had to be found and made. The siblings had resolved to think that their family was gone forever._

_Immediately after the war, most people gone into hiding started to appear. But Octavius and Irene Johnson never did. Neither did the rest of the Johnson clan. The sisters took a few days to mourn and wait, but no longer wanted to burden the Bells, and using the majority of Angelina and Alicia's savings, bought a house in a Muggle neighborhood, far away from most magic folk – or so they thought – where they could mourn in peace._

_They didn't have anything. All of their furniture and most of their family pictures they'd decided to leave in their destroyed manor, securing the wards once more, so the move-in was a cinch; Just three new beds, a few living room items, a couch, and some cooking materials. They were skilled enough to conjure smaller items, and they'd bought new clothes once they'd showered after the battle and realized they had none._

_They'd recruited Lee Jordan and Oliver Wood to help them move the furniture into the house as they couldn't openly use magic outdoors. Alicia, Angelina, Olivia, Lee and Oliver had taken a break after moving all of the furniture inside to eat lunch. It wasn't a particularly rowdy occasion, what with Fred dead, George with his family, and Angelina so unstable. But they were making it home for everyone that could possibly need it._

* * *

_Across the street, Dean sat out on his lawn passing a ball with Rochelle, who was still on a high of him being home. He'd just stepped outside and hadn't seen the group of people who had just entered the house, but noticed the truck and got a little curious._

_Rochelle had started playing in her playhouse, and was jabbering to herself, when he'd decided to investigate. "Stay here, Shell," he'd said as he got up from the ground and headed across the desert that was the street to the smaller house. _

_It was when he'd reached the sidewalk that he saw three broomsticks lying haphazardly on the ground that he knew. It was in that same moment that he got so unbelievably angry, that he almost cursed loud enough for his little sister to hear. He grabbed the three brooms, all three of which were very expensive, and marched towards the front door, which was still wide open from the move in. He walked in, a little wary but still quite angry that magic folk could be so careless with their obviously magical objects as to just leave them lying around outside, and turned a corner into a rather nice sized kitchen. When he saw a short, dark haired figure facing away from him, he started, "Are you _mad_? You can't just leave your brooms lying around outside! You do _realize_ this is a _Muggle_ neighborhood?"_

_She turned around slowly, a confused look on her smooth, coffee colored face. She had large dark brown eyes with long lashes, a rounded nose, dimpled cheeks, and a small, round chin. He knew that face._

"_Olivia?"_

_She made a sort of weird, surprised, startled look that he couldn't exactly read, then started speaking oddly, as if scared, "Erm, sorry Dean, I didn't realize those were left outside." She rushed forward and grabbed the brooms from him and set them against a cabinet. "Thanks, it won't happen again," she said a bit timidly. _

_This was Olivia, loud, boisterous, carefree, Olivia, so why was she acting so frightened, they'd known each other for years..._

_It was then that he realized that his tone had probably scared her a bit. He rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment._

"_Hey, I didn't mean to scare you or anything, it's just, my neighbors don't know about me, see," he spoke in a softer tone, with a little chuckle so there were no hard feelings, and hoped she understood what he meant. If it was still sixth year, he probably wouldn't have cared, but the war changed people's ways and attitudes towards one another, and Olivia had saved his life and mended him up._

_She nodded, "I understand." There was an awkward silence that neither really knew how to fill, so they just kind of stood there for a moment, before Olivia said, "I didn't know you lived on this street."_

"_Yeah…Well, I do," awkward turtles swam the Eastern Australian Current as they stood in that kitchen for what felt like eternity. "I didn't know your family was moving in here."_

"_Yeah…Well, it's just Ange and I…and Alicia." She said with a sad tone that sort of cracked. Before the two could reach another awkward moment, she ended the meeting to spare them both the pain. "Erm, I guess I'll see you later, then."_

"_Yeah…I suppose so," he made to leave, but turned around quickly to see Olivia grabbing a sandwich she'd presumably been making before he'd walked in causing a disturbance, "Oh, and if you or your sister…or Alicia, need anything, I'm just…across the street," he said, making hand gestures that pointed perpendicular to their house._

"_Okay…Thanks."_

* * *

_For the most part, Olivia and Dean kind of ignored each other whenever they'd catch a glimpse of the other while leaving or arriving at their respective houses. If close enough, or if outside for an extended period of time, Dean would wave and say hi or smile at Olivia, who in return would smile, blush, awkwardly say hello in return, and run inside her house faster than a gnome running from Crookshanks._

* * *

_It was turning cool again, and Olivia was preparing to start training to join the Magical Law Enforcement Squad. She was walking home from her first day of training after Apparating to a deserted area not too far from her home, when she saw a large pink ball bounce out into the road. She was looking at it absently when she saw a small girl with pigtails run out into the road to retrieve the ball just as a car passed her much too quickly for a residential neighborhood. She stopped, and saw the girl with the pigtails running in the road and the ball rolling away from her. _

_She froze, not seeing what happened next, but she remembered hearing a screech followed by a Crack! She opened her eyes to find herself lying face up on the grass with a mouthful of hair as the small child squirmed in her arms and the car speeding around the next corner._

_Before she could really process what had happened, the girl, who was now crying, was taken from her arms and she sat up whilst two more girls and none other than the tall, dark, handsome, Dean Thomas all stood over her with disbelief in their eyes. Dean was holding the smallest girl – Rochelle - up awkwardly, as she was rapidly growing, and no longer able to easily fit into his arms. The other two girls looked very close in age, one with a long braid, and the other with a very curly ponytail._

"_Did you see how she just _appeared_ in time to grab Shell? It was amazing! It was like – like, Whoosh! Only not," came the voice of the one with the braid, "And then she was like – like not in the road anymore, and she was here. It was amazing! She was like – like-"_

_The one with the ponytail rolled her eyes and supplied, "Like a _witch_?"_

"_Denise!" Came Dean's voice._

"_What? I'm just saying, she did that thing _you_ can do."_

"_Not out here!" He muttered. He stuck out his free hand to help her up and Olivia took it. It shocked her again, like it did four months before and she quickly let it go. "Thanks, Olivia," he said a little shyly, looking at his hand briefly whilst soothing his sister._

"_Thanks? Thanks? She just saved Rochelle from being squashed like a beetle, and you say 'thanks'? She like – like-" she started again before being interrupted by her own sister._

"_You know her, Dean?"_

"_Yes. We went to school together," he said with a roll of his eyes._

"_Well then, you can't just thank her!" And with that, Olivia was being dragged by the hand into the Thomas household, by Denise Thomas, Dean and Rachel following behind._

* * *

_Upon closing the door, Dean sat Rochelle down on a step and sighed. Neither she nor Olivia had spoken a word since the incident. Rachel and Denise looked expectantly between Dean and Olivia._

"_So you're a witch?" Denise asked in awe._

"_Erm, yeah," Olivia answered a little hesitantly._

"_What about the other one, the tall one that goes into your house? Is she a witch as well?"_

"_Denise!"_

"_What? It's just a question!"_

"_It's fine, Dean. Yeah, she is, erm, Denise." Denise looked smug._

_A silence descended upon the five people crowded in the Thomas hallway._

"_You're really pretty," came Rachel's voice._

_Olivia immediately blushed, "Erm, thanks!" She so rarely got compliments like that, that she was truly flattered by the younger girl._

_Dean looked slightly uncomfortable. "Alright, can you two go get Rochelle cleaned up?" Everyone had sort of forgotten about the crying six year old. Immediately, Olivia was at her side rubbing circles on her back._

"_Aw, don't cry," she frowned, indicating that her sadness was making _her_ sad. "What's your name again?" Of course, she knew the girl's name, but it always helped if you asked a kid for themselves._

"_Rochelle," she sniffed._

"_Well, Rochelle, there's no need to cry. You're alright now. Is there something that you'd like to make you stop crying?"_

_Rochelle seemed to think about this. "Ice cream," she stated in a matter-of-fact tone._

_Dean sighed, "Well, we can all go and get ice cream if Rachel and Denise take you to get cleaned up."_

_The three looked at each other with mild contemplation and without another word scrambled to get up the staircase. As the thundering of feet was about to cease, Rochelle peeked back around the corner and asked, "Can Olivia come?"_

_Dean rolled his eyes, and huffed, "Fine, just go get cleaned up!" He turned back to Olivia who'd been watching him curiously then darted her eyes away._

"_I don't have to go with you guys, its fine. My feelings aren't going to be hurt if you were just saying that, to get her to clean up," she lied with fake amusement._

"_What? No. I was serious," he said, "I actually just really wanted to thank you for doing that. She's only six, so she doesn't realize what could have happened. I'm sure she looked like she's supposed to, but that car was just…" he didn't want to think about it. It was frustrating him that someone could drive so recklessly in a residential area. "I just…Thank you, from the bottom of my heart."_

_She had butterflies in her stomach as she looked down, studying her trainers, "Honestly, I didn't think. It just…happened. It was weird." Not thinking, she added, "I haven't had an unintentional Apparition since I was about her age," she smiled, "And you're welcome. I would've wanted someone to do the same for my sister."_

"_Erm, that reminds me, sorry about my sisters, they are very, erm, curious about the Wizarding World. They'll probably ask you a million questions on the way to get ice cream."_

_She just shook her head, "Don't worry about it, they are very sweet, sweeter than my sister anyway," she shrugged._

_A moment later, Rachel flew down the stairs, and immediately started jabbering away as she walked towards the door, "Is Parvati coming?"_

_Olivia cocked her head to the side, and Dean froze, though he wasn't sure why, "No, she's working tonight."_

"_Good. I don't like her. Neither does mum. She's gorgeous, but so fake. Whenever I ask her a question she's like – like - OUCH!" Denise had arrived a moment later, followed by Rochelle, and elbowed her sister in the ribs, giving her an incredulous look._

_Dean looked embarrassed. Olivia furrowed her brow in curious confusion, __**He's dating Parvati?**_

"_Alright! Let's go!" Dean said in an exasperated tone, following the four girls out and locking the door behind him. He lightly touched Olivia's elbow for her to stay back with him for a moment._

"_Sorry about this again, my parents are still working. You can still get out of this if you want to." He expected her to. He knew Parvati would._

"_No, it's fine, honest," she said, "Your sisters are hilarious," she grinned as she got into the passenger side of the car._

* * *

"I forgot about that…" my dad said in awe. "So now we credit Shelly for our marriage?" he asked, amused.

"Of course," she stated simply, "Shelly's near accident caused a landslide of events and reactants that ultimately led to us sitting here right now. That pink ball and delinquent driver determined _everything_," she said seriously.

My dad just looked at my mother with an even more amused expression than he had before.

"Have you been drinking, love?" he chuckled.

She snorted, but was having a hard time holding back her own laughter. Grinning, they were in interrupted by the Floo Network. The fire blazed and Uncle Seamus emerged. He wasn't _really_ my uncle, or else my crush on Seth would be totally gross, but he and dad were like brothers. Max and Axel, my younger twin brothers, followed by Liam, and none other than Seth himself followed Uncle Seamus, one by one. Liam and the twins were beyond disgusting, covered in mud, grass, and not looking like their normal selves. Axel was sporting flaming red hair to rival the Weasleys, Liam's arms were elongated and flopped around oddly like worms, and Max was a human sized canary.

Finally, Uncle Seamus spoke, "Erm, Dean, I think we, erm, have a problem." Dad was in shock, as was my mother, both pairs of eyebrows nearly hidden in their equally dark brown hair. Then, everybody in the room doubled over in laughter. Well, everyone accept Max.

Then the fire blazed again, and Corbin, Alice, and the Longbottoms appeared, looking very disturbed. All laughing ceased, and Max chirped.

"Erm, Dean, I think we, erm, have a problem," Professor Longbottom sighed heavily. Seth and I stifled giggles at the repetition. His wife went to sit next to my mother. Professor Longbottom sighed again, "Well, you see, we walked in on Corbin and Alice-" but then _he_ was cut off by the Floo Network.

Aunt Angelina, followed by Roxy, my cousin, and Francine, my little sister, appeared in the living room. Aunt Ange looked pissed. Roxy and Francine however, were beaming. At a closer look, I saw they were covered in ridiculous amounts of bright, costume, makeup, and were obviously very proud of it. Aunt Ange's face soothed however, when she saw the amount of people that were currently in her sister's house.

Uncle George was the last one to emerge from the fireplace, and was the one to kick start the chaos, "Oi! You were having a party and didn't invite the Weasleys?"

My parents gave each other a look, and my mum said, "I'll take Fran and the twins, you take Allan." She clearly knew the former would be easier and quicker to take care of than the latter. I didn't care though, with my mum dealing with the twins, I could talk to Alec.

"Right." My dad stood up to take the three Longbottoms and his son into drawing room. Nigel chirped again. The younger girls sat down at the table, still wearing matching grins. Aunt Ange and Uncle George sat down too, Aunt Angie shaking her head, Uncle George smiling as if we were all having a quiet get together for tea.

This was going to be a long evening.

* * *

**Reviews are encouraged and appreciated. Again, if you want, I'll even read a story of yours that you request in a review. :)**


	6. I should be a resident of St Mungo's

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the Wizarding World. If I did, I most definitely would not sit around for hours writing fanfiction.**

* * *

My family isn't necessarily crazy. For the most part, my parents have got their offspring under a reasonable amount of control, considering they've got five children, including a set of twins. No, the Thomas family is quite tranquil for such a large clan, it's our company that cause most of the chaos. Our cousins are Weasleys which is explanatory just by the name, and our closest friends are Finnigans, who have a knack for pyrotechnics and experimentation. But for once, it wasn't the Weasleys or the Finnigans or even the Longbottoms that were causing hell to break loose in our humble abode. This time, it was all Thomas.

* * *

My mum immediately set to work on the three boys, and Seth came to sit next to me as we watched the night's drama unfold. She cleaned off the mud with a wave of her wand. Seth watched her as well, before turning to me and grinning, then gesturing towards the twins and his own brother, Liam.

"Ye should have seen it when Max burst into feather. It was the funniest thing I've seen since Hugo Weasley tried to punch Malfoy in the face last term. Axel started it all though, a first. Amazing what they get themselves into without wands. Axel tried to knock Max off of his broom earlier. Naturally that started a row, Max accidentally used magic, turning Axel's hair ginger. Axel didn't like that. Alas, the _game_ began, and he tried to retaliate. Somehow Liam got caught up in their shenanigans, I really don't care how, but Axel passed Max a Canary Cream instead of a Pumpkin Pastie when they went in to have a rest. I nearly wet myself when I saw."

He was laughing openly now, as was I. I'm not sure whether I was laughing at the story or because I felt like there were Doxies in my stomach, but I was doubled over. I was in a daze through most of the story, intoxicated by his laughter, his grin, his slight accent, his hazel eyes, and his lean arm muscles, and of course his odd minty smell. I'm surprised he hadn't noticed.

Liam and Axel were back to normal by then, but my mum's face was screwed up in concentration as she tried various spells to return Max to his previous state.

Professor Longbottom spoke up between her spells, "Actually, Dean, I think both of you should be here for this..."

Mrs. Longbottom nodded in agreement. Corbin and Alice just gravely hung their heads, while standing extremely close to each other, holding hands, and whispering, my brother a little in front of her. As a Thomas kid, I know by the way he was protecting her that whatever they had done, it was somehow partially my brothers fault, and that he was about to take full blame.

My mother, always patient, said over her shoulder, oblivious to my professor's tone, replied, "Okay, one second, Neville," then continued throwing spells at her youngest child.

Seth furrowed his brow together, as did Aunt Angelina, no doubt getting the same vibe I was. Uncle George just leaned back in his chair watching Uncle Seamus and my mother's attempts to restore Max to human form. That's when my mother whirled around, her silky shoulder length hair flying around with her.

"George! You created those Canary Creams back at Hogwarts! You can fix this!" She moved towards him, wide eyed.

He raised one eyebrow and simply shook his head with a sort of smirk playing on his lips. It was silent. "There is no cure for Canary Creams, you just have to wait it out."

My mum seemed to just accept this, her shoulders slugging a little in defeat, "How long will that take?"

His wife was looking at him a bit impatiently, a difference between her and my mother. She got impatient much faster. He simply answered, "That could be anywhere from five minutes to an hour," he shrugged.

My mother turned back to Uncle Seamus and the boys, "How long has he been like this?" She inquired in her most law enforcement-like voice.

"'Bout five, maybe ten minutes," came Seth's voice.

"Well," my mum said with a sigh, "I guess we just wait, then" She then plopped herself down in her favorite chair, completely forgetting that there were still two other Thomas children that needed to be dealt with, but my aunt had something to say. She _always_ had something to say.

"Wait. Wait, wait, wait! You are telling me, that both you and Dean work for the bloody Ministry of Magic and you are both stumped as to how to cure your son from a -no offense, love- stupid joke sweet, made up by two idiotic seventh years from about twenty five years ago?"

My mum seemed to ponder this, then said, "Well, yeah. I mean, we have the training and N.E. to do it, but let's be honest. Magical Law Enforcement would _never_ cross something this simple -sorry George- and as much nonsense calls I get during the day, I've realized for some things you've just got to wait it out," my mother commented, her legs crossed in the chair.

That's the thing about being the offspring of parents that enforce Wizard law. They know how to come at you from virtually every angle. My dad, being a Hit Wizard, could get quite aggressive with his punishments and knew how to break you, while my mother, working for the Wizard Law Enforcement Squad, knew what was going on even before you did. Being sneaky got you nowhere but grounded. You couldn't win in my house.

Seth raised his eyebrows at me, though I have no idea why, so I just shrugged as my mum said, "So, what happened with Roxy and Fran? What's going on now?"

"They-" but Aunt Angie was cut off by her own sister.

"Is this Magic or Muggle makeup?" My mum interrupted, somehow already across the room inspecting my sister and my younger cousin's face with her skilled hand. It was amazing how absorbed the whole room was whilst all of this was happening. Hannah Longbottom sat watching her friend's daughter and niece in mild amusement. Her husband still looked grave, glancing at his daughter and Corbin every few seconds.

Corbin and Alice were still absorbed in each other while it looked like Alice was crying silently. Liam and Axel were whispering loudly, no doubt trying to figure out a plan to keep from being punished. My dad and uncle were talking, probably about the pub they run together on the weekends, and Seth and I were watching my aunt over dramatize the scene before her. Uncle George just sat with his hands behind his head, completely entertained.

"It's Mag-" Uncle George grinned, it was rare anyone could get a word in with his wife, and he knew it. Only he and my mum were able to penetrate her ranting.

"Magical." My mum decided. She stood back, and did a non-verbal spell at Roxy's face first, a cloud of pink ascending around her head, then doing the same to my sister. After a moment, their faces were back to normal, Roxy's long burgundy hair shinier than ever, and Fran's long dark braid neatly placed to hang over her right shoulder. My mum was an artist. Their once matching grins turned downwards and they both looked quite put out.

"They-"

"Did the same thing we did Angie. Accept they used their own wands, versus their parents'" My mum rolled her eyes. "They are thirteen year old girls, what do you expect for them to do? As long as they don't go out in public like that, it's no big deal, no need to get your knickers in a twist."

"But-"

"We know they aren't supposed to use magic outside of school, but honestly, do you think they'll really listen. I've got _five_ children, Angel, _five_ of those little buggers."

All of my siblings and I, save for Corbin and Max, made offended faces. Seth snickered.

"I should know. You've just got to pick and choose your battles or you will crash and burn. It's just makeup, it comes off." My mum then turned to the girls. "Go upstairs, no more magic or I_ will_ take your wands." They scurried up the stairs quickly, not looking back.

She then turned to Uncle Seamus, whose attention had been grabbed at the word 'bugger'.

"They can stay here for a little while, I know you want to get back to Lavender," she smiled sweetly as Aunt Lavender had just given birth to their only girl a few days before.

"Thank you, Olivia." He said gratefully, turning to Seth and telling him to bring the twins a little later then patted Dean's shoulder before throwing some Floo powder into the fire, stepping in, winking at his son, and saying "Finnigan Place!"

With that, he was gone. My mother turned to the boys, exclaiming, "Go out to the Quidditch Pitch, and take the bird with you, please!"

They walked out stiffly, trying to avoid any too sudden movements, Max followed them, losing three feathers and chirping.

My mother was clearly the master at controlling children. She made it seem like an art. Perhaps she was just tactful about it, making it seem like an easy life, dealing with crisis every day, or maybe it was a learned skill…

The night wasn't over, though. My mother stood up and went over to her husband. They knew Corbin was going to be on defense by his stance, so, they took a strong stance as well while remaining neutral to keep things as calm as possible. When Corbin was in trouble, my dad took the stand, as it was more effective because they were close in height.

"Right, what's going on Corbin? Why exactly are the Longbottom's here on your first night back from school?"

It was a tribute to our family that my parents' two eldest children were both in Gryffindor house, because the words that escaped my brother's mouth were words only a Gryffindor would be able to speak so clearly to his parental units while simultaneously breaking all hell loose.

"Alice is pregnant; they overheard us talking about it," He said simply.

I gasped, wide eyed.

"Bullocks," whispered Seth.

"Literally," I replied, turning my head towards him for a brief second.

"Bloody hell!" said Uncle George.

"Merlin's Pants!" exclaimed Aunt Angie.

"Shit," said my mum, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"WHAT IN MERLIN'S NAME DID YOU DO!?" My dad roared, startling everyone. It was so weird seeing and hearing him like that, because my father did not yell. He could be scary as shit, but I don't think I'd ever heard him actually yell before.

"We know," Corbin and Alice said, hanging their heads.

My mum, I could tell, was fighting with herself. Probably between hexing and yelling at her son, crying, and keeping her magic under control. She finally said, "I think we should all sit down."

I got up immediately; I did not want to be there for that conversation. Seth followed suit, and I said "I really don't want to hear this, can Seth and I go for a walk?"

"Of course, love," my mother said in a strained voice.

"We'll be leaving too," said Uncle George, looking both amused and nervous while motioning for my aunt to leave as well.

She got up quickly and they made their way to the fireplace, Uncle George was already gone when my aunt turned back around said, "Erm, you can just bring Roxy back when you are ready, or she can spend the night like we planned, if you'll still have her."

"Of course," came my mum's weak voice, her fingers on her temples now.

Aunt Angie vanished with a wave and look that clearly said, 'Good luck!' before disappearing into the Floo Network.

I grabbed Seth by the arm, hard, so as not to make it seem too friendly and pulled him out of the room, and out of the house.

* * *

We got out of that house as quickly as we could manage and began walking along the long lane that led to our Quidditch Pitch. It was getting darker and it was a bit breezy, but it felt good to be out of the house after sitting for so long.

"Corbin is really in for it this time," Seth said incredulously.

"Yeah," I agreed. "I mean, did he not understand _the talk_? It's not like we are Muggles. There is a very simple charm that prevents these sort of shenanigans from occurring. What was he _thinking_? What were _they_ thinking? I never thought Alice to be the type to… - _you know_."

"Well...I guess when you're in love..."

I didn't reply to that comment.

"Right, what do ye think your parents will do to him? We know your dad will go into a rant about 'responsibility'," He joked. I snorted.

"Well, there really isn't much they _can_ do. You can't very well ground someone who's going to be a father, now can you?" Merlin that was weird to say. I laughed a little wryly, "Yeah, he'll be 'going to his room' for that one."

I thought for a moment and rationally thought about what they would do. "They would take away his wand if he wasn't seventeen, but as he _is_ seventeen, I honestly haven't a clue."

Seth chuckled, "Do you even care?"

"Not really, no. I'm shocked, and disappointed especially since both still have a year left at Hogwarts, but at the moment I sort of feel indifferent, it's really weird." I thought about it a bit. "I mean, we are pretty close. I suppose that will change now."

Seth mumbled something under his breath. We subconsciously turned away from the Quidditch pitch where we could hear the boys yelling, and walked towards the small pond on the west side of my house.

"I doubt it, he's your brother. He'll just be a dad, and you'll just be an aunt, but he'll still be your brother, and don't forget he hasn't always been the nicest brother either. Remember in fourth year on Christmas Day. We stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas and you and Corbin got into that huge row about Fran. He called ye some pretty mean stuff that day."

"I remember that. We threw hexes at each other. I was going to use an Itching Jinx, but then _somebody_," I looked at him pointedly, "disarmed the evil little cockroach and I couldn't because that wouldn't be fair."

"An _Itching Jinx_?" Seth said playfully, "he was going to put ye in a Full Body Bind or worse and you were going to use an _Itching Jinx_?"

I blushed at my realization of how naive I could be sometimes. While I tried to recover, I thought for a moment. He stepped in when my own brother was going to curse me. I was no expert, but I knew it was odd that someone else would step in between a siblings' quarrel. I tried to remember if he had ever done it other than that time, and realized he'd been doing it all last year as well.

He must have taken my silence for stewing anger though, and said, "I was only joking, ye know. It was really noble of you not to do real damage." He winked at me and smirked a little, but I just ignored it as I felt my cheeks burn.

I quickly replied so that he wouldn't think I was actually angry, "I know, I was just thinking that you weren't always the best 'best friend' either." I flipped my shiny long braid over my opposite shoulder, feigning an attitude.

He laughed at that, shoving me a little. I shoved him back.

"Like when? I don't recall a time when I was ever the opposite of a just and loyal best friend."

I laughed wryly at his attempt at being innocent. "Let's see," I began counting on my fingers, "First there was the time in fourth year that you summoned my diary from the bottom of the girls' dormitory stairs," I looked at him pointedly, he smirked. "Then there was the time when you got detention because you decided it would be amusing to put various potion ingredients in my hair and watch the effects unravel," I raised my eyebrows, and widened my eyes, he just chuckled. " then there was the time you _hexed_ Fred-" I exclaimed, adding a third finger.

"He was taking the Mickey out of ye!"

"He's my cousin, Seth! It's what we do!"

"Alright, so I've overdone it and slipped up a little."

I snorted at that. He just grinned though before sitting down, I sat down next to him. Our hands brushed each other's and we both looked in the opposite direction. He laughed and I snapped my head around, trying to find the source of his amusement, but he was looking right at me, so I innocently asked what was funny.

"Nothing, it's just...when did we get awkward?"

I went rigid. He noticed it too. Damn. I decided to play dumb for as long as possible. I cocked my head to the side a bit, heart racing.

"Don't play dumb, Cressida, you know what I'm talking about." Damn it! I sighed and realized my time for keeping my feelings for my best friend a secret was up. There was no way out. He was serious. He'd even used my name, rather than my nickname. The charade was over. I looked down, into my lap, summoning my courage. Then began playing with the hem of my purple tee-shirt, suddenly realizing I really liked the color.

"I suppose...about fourth year. When our year began dating each other...it got awkward, because I was with you _all the time_, so it was almost like _we_ were dating. It was around that time when your relationship with my brother changed, you guys weren't attached at the hip anymore…and we changed. Everything just...changed."

He was looking at me funny, but then turned his head back around. I felt his hand cover mine, and I looked at him funny, and then turned my head back around; another awkward moment.

"I'm taking Advanced Potions next term," he said suddenly, and I was thanking God that I wouldn't have to go on with the conversation.

"Oh?" I said, sounding interested so that the dialog would move farther away from our 'moment'.

He nodded, "Do you know what we learn about in sixth year for Potions, what one of our lessons is on?" He was giving me that look again, and I knew our previous conversation was not over. I mentally groaned, "Amortentia."

"What's that?" I asked, genuinely confused.

"It's a love potion, a strong one. It smells differently to each person according to what attracts them. I've read about it, and before your brother burst into a canary in the middle of our dining room, I was brewing it."

Why the hell were boys so damn…_open_ sometimes? Fear was making its way back into my system. I stayed silent so that I wouldn't retch.

"Generally, a person smells three things when they come into contact with it." There was another pause and I still refused to speak. "Me, I smelled Irish Morning Tea," I grinned at my half-Irish best friend. He was so proud of his culture that I wondered vaguely if he was making that first scent up just to play his Irish card.

"Those honey biscuit things that are always at breakfast when we are at school," these were definitely not things I would think a bloke would smell in association with attraction. I cocked my head to the side in amusement.

_**Honey biscuits?**_** Really, Seth?**

He smirked at me, seeing my obvious bewilderment, "and you."

If my facial expression was funny before I could imagine what it looked like at that moment. My eyebrows were probably beyond my hairline. Seth was making me extremely nervous, and as my best friend, he knew it, which was why he was grinning at me in the manner that he was.

"Really?" I somehow managed to croak. He never took his eyes off of me.

"Really." He said confidently. He was looking at me as if he was waiting for something. It had been a whole minute and he cleared his throat before and said, in an almost accusing tone, "Do you have anything you want to tell me, Cress?"

"I've never made Amortentia." I said, the romance of the night completely going over my head in my utter nervousness and shock.

"I mean, you are supposed to say, 'Gee Seth, I fancy you as well'" He said irritably in a high pitched tone that was supposed to match mine, British accent included.

So he knew. Wow, that was a blow for my ego. Apparently I'm not too good at hiding my feelings. I am my mother's child though, so in a situation like this, when cornered, I got defensive.

"What if I don't?" I visibly shook his confidence.

**What is _wrong_ with you? He just confessed his feelings for you! Are you _mental_? Why would you do something like that, you _idiot_? Are you completely _stupid_? What has happened to your _brain_? You should be locked up in St. Mungo's; thrown into Azkaban; made to spend your life as old maid. What have you done, you _cruel, psychotic, little heifer_?**

My conscience got too me, and I felt more than a little bad since he was spot on about my feelings and quickly, before the Johnson in me could do more damage, I cleaned up, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that, I do. You're right."

I was breathing really hard by then, and I wanted to run away, but couldn't, he would catch me, no doubt. So I looked down, and asked a little angrily, "How did you know?"

What he said next though, truly made me angry, as he was so casual about it, "I read your diary, duh."

"WHAT!?" I roared. He however, was calm. He knew I wouldn't be angry for long.

"When you caught me the first time, I simply waited a while, and was much sneakier about it. At last year's Christmas party, when we came home, the downstairs toilet was occupied, as was the corridor toilet on the second landing. I didn't want to use your parents' so I used yours."

"YOU WENT IN MY ROOM!? YOU WENT THROUGH MY STUFF!?" A duck that was floating on the pond flew away at the volume of my voice.

"Shh…calm down will ye, I didn't pry through your things. I summoned it, duh."

"You know, I would really appreciate it if you would not 'duh' me." I said with an attitude.

"Alright, I'm sorry," He was obviously trying to please me, as he would normally make some snarky remark in response. We were back to silence though.

"So…" I began, now fully appreciating the fact that my feelings for my best friend were reciprocated. "How long have you fancied me, then?"

He was eager to answer the question, as if he'd been waiting for me to ask him this, "I've no idea. I know it's been since last year, but I don't know whether I fancied you fourth year. It was a confusing time for me, you see."

I was a little put out, I fancied him since as long as I could remember, "Oh."

"Why? How long have you liked me?" I wasn't about to tell him that I 'had it bad' since the day I was born, so I said, "Since we were twelve." That seemed like a good age, and he bought it.

**Why do I keep doing that?**

It was silent for another moment, before he broke the silence again. His inner lion was on fire this evening, "So, what do we do now?"

"I've no idea, I've never had a boy fancy me since _you and my brother_ take joy in scaring them all off." I said grudgingly.

He was looking at me again with those hazel eyes, "I was only jealous you know. I didn't want you to date anyone."

I snorted, "_Obviously_," I was going to say more but when I finished my one word answer, he moved towards me so quickly I couldn't have moved if I tried. His lips were on mine faster than you could say Quidditch, but they were gone just as quickly.

I was at a loss. There was nothing to think. When it came to my brain functionality you could roll the credits because I wasn't processing _anything_.

"We should go back now," he said abruptly, grinning, "it's getting late."

Indeed the sky was now darkening and stars were shining brightly above us. He stood up, and held out his hand to help me stand. When I grasped it, the awkwardness that had been there over the last few months was still there was still there, but it was different. We started walking back to the house in silence, though he was grinning and I was smirking. We bumped hands a few times, and ended up holding hands as we walked back into what was surely a homicide scene.

* * *

**Reviews are encouraged and appreciated. Again, if you want, I'll even read a story of yours that you request in a review. :)**


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